• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.507-528
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• 2009

Coping and defense are similar psychological mechanisms to reduce stress response, but they are regarded as distinct from each other. Defense involved distortions of reality, but coping was used for strategies associated with accepting the true nature of the situation. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the coping and defense features of the North Korean Defectors in the Rorschach test. The subjects were then categorized into four groups based on their birth place and gender: Male North Korean defectors( N=16), female North Korean defectors(N=28), male South Koreans(N=17), and female South Koreans(N=25). All subjects were individually administered the Rorschach test, and protocols were scored according to the Exner(2003)'s Rorschach Comprehensive systems. Coping or defense-related Rorschach variables were selected for analysis: EA, CDI, Adj D, EB style, Lamda, Zd, X-%, Xu%, W:Dd:D, P, reaction time, and other behavior characteristics during the testing. Compared with other groups, female North Korean defectors were more likely to show poor coping resources(low EA), adjustment difficulties(Adj D), and distortions of reality(high X-%). They also demonstrated more 'don't know' responses and more delayed responses than other groups. These findings suggest that poor coping resources make female North Korean defectors more vulnerable to stress, and psychological intervention such as social skills training may help them settle successfully in south Korea. Limitations of the current study and implications for future research were discussed.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.52-59
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• 2003

Purpose : The renin-angiotensin system(RAS) plays an important role in renal growth and development. We have studied the prevalence of renal anomalies and documented the association between karyotype and renal anomalies using IVP and ultrasonography. Furthermore, to investigate the impact of RAS gene polymorphism on renal anomaly in Turner syndrome, we examined the ACE I/D genotype, angiotensinogen(AGT) gene M235T, angiotensin receptor type 1(ATR) gene A1166C. Methods : Cytogenetic analysis was performed in 33 Turner syndrome patients on peripheral blood lymphocytes. Ultrasonography(US) of the kidneys and collecting system and intravenous pyelography(IVP) were perfomed in all patients. Nuclear scintigraphy{Tc 99m dimercaptosuccinic acid(DMSA) scan} was also performed for the definite renal diagnosis if indicated. And, ACE I/D genotype, angiotensinogen(AGT) gene M235T, angiotensin receptor type 1(ATR) gene A1166C were examined by PCR amplification of genomic DNA samples. Results : The prevalence of renal anolmalies in Turner syndrome was 36.4%(12/33). The Karyotype 45, X was observed in 18 of the 33 girls(54.5%), of whom 8(44.4%) had renal anomalies. Mosaic karyotypes were observed in 11(33.3%) and four(12.2%) had a non-mosaic structural aberration of the X chromosome. In this group 4(25.7%) had renal anomalies. More renal anomalies were associated with the 45, X karyotype than those with mosaic/structural abnormalities of X chromosome, but the difference was not statistically significant(P>0.05). And, there was no significant differences in the RAS gene polymorphism and allele frequencies between renal anomaly group and normal group in Turner syndrome. Conclusion : The prevalence of renal anolmalies in Turner syndrome was 36.4%. There is no significant differences in the RAS gene polymorphism and allele frequencies between the renal anomaly group and the normal group in Turner syndrome.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.659-678
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• 1998

In the present study, oligonucleotide probes based on 16S rRNA were taken to investigate the diversity of oral spirochetes without culture method. This is the first study that revealed oral spirochetes of both presently cultivable and uncultured oral spirochetes in Korean adult periodontitis patients. Subgingival plaque samples were taken from diseased sites(probing depth ${\geq}6\;mm$, experimental group, n=116) and healthy sites(probing depth${\leq}3mm$, control 1 group, n=28) in 29 patients with adult periodontitis, and from 20 periodontally healthy subjects(probing depth${\leq}3mm$, control 2 group, n=100). Following being examined under phase-contrast microscope, all samples were submitted to dot-blot hybridization after polymerase chain reacton with eubacterial primers. 5 species-specific probes(TVIN, TDEN, TMAL, TSOC, and TPEC) and 7 group-specific probes(TRE I, TRE II, TRE III, TRE IV, TRE V, TRE VI, and TRE VII) were used one by one for the identification of both cultivable and so far uncultivable oral spirochetes. All probes were labeled with digoxigenin(DIG)-ddUTP and detected by chemilumininescence. The following results were obtained. 1. Under phase-contrast microscope, 91.37% and 14.28% of oral spirochetes were observed in the experimental and control 1 groups, respectively. None of oral spirochetes were observed in control 2 group. 2. With universal probe, 98.27%, 46.42%, and 22.0% of oral spirochetes were observed in experimental, control 1, and control 2 groups, respectively. 3. With specific probe, 95.68%, 35.71%, and 19.0% of oral spirochetes were observed in experimental, control 1, and control 2 groups, respectively. 4. With species-specific probes, T. socranskii were recovered in a high percentage of sites(81.89%) examined, followed by T. maltophilum(50.0%), T. vincentii(36.20%), T. denticola(13.79%), respectively. With group- specific probes, TRE IV was recovered in a high percentage of sites(85.34%) examined, followed by TRE II(77.58%), TRE I(56.89%), TRE III(25.86%), TRE VI(5.17%), and TRE V(2.58%), respectively. 5. T. vincentii were only observed in the diseased sites, not in the healthy sites. 6. Neither T. pectinovorum nor group VII oral spirochetes were observed in any sites. The findings warrant further investgations of the recovered spirochetes to elucidate the possible associations of oral spirochetal prevalence in race and types of periodontitis, pathogenesis of T. vincentii and the possible distributional change of oral spirochetes before and after treatments.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.682-697
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Tibetan tea is a kind of dark tea, due to the inherent complexity of natural products, the chemical composition and beneficial effects of Tibetan tea are not fully understood. The objective of this study was to unravel the composition of Tibetan tea using knowledge-guided multilayer network (KGMN) techniques and explore its potential antioxidant and hypolipidemic mechanisms in mice. MATERIALS/METHODS: The C57BL/6J mice were continuously gavaged with Tibetan tea extract (T group), green tea extract (G group) and ddH2O (H group) for 15 days. The activity of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in mice was detected. Transcriptome sequencing technology was used to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the antioxidant and lipid-lowering effects of Tibetan tea in mice. Furthermore, the expression levels of liver antioxidant and lipid metabolism related genes in various groups were detected by the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method. RESULTS: The results showed that a total of 42 flavonoids are provisionally annotated in Tibetan tea using KGMN strategies. Tibetan tea significantly reduced body weight gain and increased T-AOC and SOD activities in mice compared with the H group. Based on the results of transcriptome and qPCR, it was confirmed that Tibetan tea could play a key role in antioxidant and lipid lowering by regulating oxidative stress and lipid metabolism related pathways such as insulin resistance, P53 signaling pathway, insulin signaling pathway, fatty acid elongation and fatty acid metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: This study was the first to use computational tools to deeply explore the composition of Tibetan tea and revealed its potential antioxidant and hypolipidemic mechanisms, and it provides new insights into the composition and bioactivity of Tibetan tea.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.26-36
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• 2006

Differential Display PCR technique (DD-PCR) was used for the analysis of altered gene expression in hemocytes of Vibrio harveyi-infected Penaeus monodon. Forty-four combinations of arbitrary and oligo(dT) primers were used to screen for differentially expressed genes. A total of 79 differentially expressed bands could be identified from 33 primer combinations. These included 48 bands (61%) whose expression level increased and 31 bands (39%) decreased after V. harveyi challenge. Subsequently, forty-eight differential display fragments were successfully reamplified and cloned. A total of 267 clones were randomly selected and sequenced. The sequence analysis showed that 85 (31%) out of 267 clones were matched with sequences in the GenBank database which represented 24 different genes with known functions. Among the known genes, glucose transporter 1, interferon-related developmental regulator 1, lysozyme, profilin, SERPINB3, were selected for further confirmation of their differentially expression patterns by real-time PCR. The results showed increasing in expression level of the selected genes in shrimp hemocytes after microbial challenge suggesting the involvement of such genes in bacterial response in shrimp. The anti-lipopolysaccharide factor type 3 (ALFPm3) gene, previously reported in P. monodon (Supungul et al., 2002) was found among the up-regulated genes but diversity due to amino acid changes was observed. Increase in ALFPm3 transcripts upon V. harveyi injection is in accordance with that found in the previous study.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.821-826
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• 2007

The aim of the experiment was to detect polymorphisms in the keratin-associated protein 8.2 (KAP8.2) gene to determine associations between the genotype and fibre traits in Chinese Inner Mongolia cashmere goats. The fibre traits data investigated were cashmere fibre diameter, combed cashmere weight, cashmere fibre length and guard hair length. Five hundred and forty-two animals were used to detect polymorphisms in the complete coding sequence of the hircine KAP8.2 gene by means of PCR-SSCP. The results identified six genotypes, AA, BB, DD, AB, AD and BD, coded for by three different alleles A, B and D. Two SNPs in the coding region were confirmed by sequencing, which were A214G and T218C respectively. The relationships between the genotypes and cashmere fibre diameter, combed cashmere weight, cashmere fibre length and guard hair length were analyzed. There were significant differences (p<0.01) between the associations of the different genotypes with cashmere fibre diameter, cashmere weight and hair length. Cashmere length was the only trait that was not associated with the genotypes. The genotype AA (0.73) was found to be predominant in Inner Mongolia cashmere goats and the animals with this genotype had the thinnest cashmere fibre diameter compared with the other genotypes. These results suggested that polymorphisms in the hircine KAP8.2 gene may be a potential molecular marker for cashmere fibre diameter in cashmere goats.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 1997

The angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is a key component of the renin-angiotensin system thought to be important in the pathogenesis of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Deletion polymorphism in the ACE gene may be a risk factor for myocardial infarction. The insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the ACE detected by PCR analysis appears to be associated with hypertension in Koreans and its nucleotide was subcloned into T-vector and its nucleotide sequences were determined. We also examined an association between hypertension and genetic variance of ACE. We identified the angiotensin I-converting enzyme genotype in 127 hypertensive and 189 normotensive Korean subjects. The distribution of ACE genotype II, ID, DD were 39.2%, 40.2%, 20.6% respectively and the frequency for ACE alleles I and D were 0.593 and 0.407, respectively in all subjects. The frequency of D allele in Korean males is higher than that of Korean females (male; 0.438 : female; 0.267), and the frequency of I allele in Korean females is higher than that of Korean males (female; 0.733 : male; 0.562). Genotype distributions of angiotensin I-converting enzyme genes in Korean normal adult population were different from that of Caucasians (P<0.001). There were no significant differences in genotype frequency between the hypertensive control group (n=127) and the normotensive group (n=189). We observed significant differences of ACE genotype distribution between the male group and the female group in total (P=0.001) and in hypertensive Korean subjects (P=0.013).

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.149-157
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• 2000

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is capable of growing and survival within macrophage. The purpose of this study was to identify the genes regulated by infection of mycobacteria in human monocytic THP-1 cells. We used the differential display reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (DD RT-PCR) and nothern blot analysis to confirm the differentially expressed genes from THP-1 cells infected with live Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, heat-killed Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and live Mycobacterium bovis BCG. Among many up or down-regulated clones, 27 clones were sequenced and compared with known genes on GenBank. Thirteen of over-expressed clones from THP-1 cells infected with live Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv were identical to human prothymosin alpha, eight were novel clones and six clones showed homology with Human ferritin H chain, Esherichia coli bgl, Mouse RNA-dependent EIF-2 alpha kinase, E. coli htrL, Hyaluronan receptor and T cell receptor. Our result suggests that Mycobacterium tuberculosis might regulate prothymosin alpha gene transcription in monocytic THP-1 cell.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.599-606
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• 2002

In this study, 4,4'-tetraglycidyl diaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM)/polyamideimide (PAI) blends were cured using diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS). And the effect of addition of different PAI contents to neat TGDDM was investigated in the thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties of the blends. The cure behavior and thermal stability of the cured specimens were monitored by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. Also, the critical stress intensity factor (K$\_$IC/) was measured in UTM, and the phase separation behavior and final morphology of TGDDM/PAI blends were examined in scanning electron microscopy(SEM). As a result, the cure temperature and cure activation energy (E$\_$a/) were decreased with increasing the PAI content. The decreasing of cure temperature and cure activation energy were probably due to the presence of secondary amine group of PAI backbone used as co-initiator. But, the decomposition activation energy (E$\_$t/) and K$\_$IC/ value were increased up to 5. 10 phr of PAI content, respectively and they were decreased above the PAI contents. These results were explained on the basis of chain scission reaction by etherification. And morphology of blends observed from SEM was confirmed in co-continuous structures.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.170-175
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• 1980

A mass production of chestnut necessiates the development of economic long-term storage method. The main objective of this study was to confirm the technical aspect of the chestnut storage method which was developed by two year project and to review the method of commercial application. The chestnut used for the experiments were separated in brine $(5.5{\sim}6.0^{\circ}\:B{\acute{a}}ume)$ into matured and unmatured lots and fumigated with $CS_2$ at a 5 $lb/27\;m^3$ level for $25{\sim}30\;hrs.$ The chestnuts were packed in wooden boxes with sawdust (50% moisture) in the ratio of 1 : 1 by volume. The boxes were stored in the cold room $(1{\pm}1^{\circ}C,\;85{\sim}95%\;RH)$ and the cellar ($0{\sim}10^{\circ}C$, controlled only by circulating night cool air). The results obtained were as follows: 1. Fully matured chestnut could be successfully preserved $8{\sim}9\;months$ at a l0% decay level in the cold room and $4{\sim}5\;months$ months in cellar. 2. Immatured chestnuts wire inferior to the matured in storage stability. At the maximum storage period, its storage life was two months shorter. 3. The heat transfer equation of piled chestnuts with sawdust can be suggested as $T_{\infty}-T_0=(T_{\infty}-T_0){\cdot}10^{-t/320}$ and j and $f_h$ values were 1 and 320 min, respectively. 4. The chestnuts in the package of storage unit had longer shelf life than naked chestnut during the retail distribution at ambient temperature.